


New Beginnings

by for_the_love_of_wolves



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Kid Fic, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:47:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22120522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/for_the_love_of_wolves/pseuds/for_the_love_of_wolves
Summary: Leo and his mother leave home. After a long journey they arrive at Melinda May's place, ready to start new. (For @agentmanatee, who prompted: May is Fitz's godmother after bonding and becoming best friends with his mum in a foreign student exchange - either her to Scotland or his mum to stay with May and her father)
Relationships: Leo Fitz & Leo Fitz's Mother, Leo Fitz & Melinda May
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AgentManatee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentManatee/gifts).



Leo clutches his plush monkey to his chest and tries to not fall asleep while the train moves through the darkness of the night smoothly. It’s not easy for him to prevent his heavy eyes from falling shut. The air is warm and stuffy. And he hasn’t gotten a lot of sleep lately anyway. But he doesn’t feel save in this train, with all the strange noises, smells and people around.

His mother is sitting beside him and when he looks at her, he sees she’s still at the very beginning of her book, although she has been reading for a long while now. Her eyes look heavy too. And reddish. She has been crying when they entered the train.

Leo looks from her to the suitcases surrounding them and swallows around the big lump that seems to be stuck in his throat. He’s eight years old and they are leaving home. His mum told him they’re not going on vacation and that they’re never going back. Leo still can’t quite believe that. But with every minute the train brings them further away from Glasgow and home – and from Dad. They left when he was still at the pub. There were no words of goodbye. When Leo asked his mother if they shouldn’t leave a note or anything, she just shook her head and told him to hurry.

This is all very strange. He watched as the surroundings changed from urban to countryside and to something even wilder, wondering and feeling a little scared.

“Mom, how long?” Leo asks, blinking.

His mother sighs and lowers her book, wiping at her eyes. “I fear it’s going to take a few more hours, darling. Why don’t you sleep just for a little while. I have your favourite pillow and some earplugs.”

Leo wants to protest, but then he has to yawn and feels his eyes getting way too heavy to keep them longer anymore. He sinks into the seat and only feels that his mother wraps him in a blanket and puts the pillow behind his head. He feels way better with the hint of a familiar smell so close to him. Before she puts the earplugs in gently, his mother whispers, “Sleep well, little monkey,” and gives him a kiss on the forehead.

It only takes a moment for Leo to fall asleep. He doesn’t dream.

* * *

When Leo wakes up, it’s not dark anymore. The train moves through a more urban landscape now. It doesn’t even look that different from home. His mother’s arm is wrapped around him. She’s looking out the window, looking more relaxed and awake now. “Morning, Leo,” she says when she notices he’s looking at her, smiling. He reads it from her lips, because he still has the earplugs in. He became very good in reading from the lips with the time. Especially from hers. He takes the earplugs out and blinks when the noises come back.

“Are we there now?” He asks his mother.

She shakes her head. “Not yet. When the train stops next, we’ll get out. But we have to take a plane next.”

Leo gasped. “A plane?!” His stomach drops and he begins to bite on his fingernails anxiously. A plane … He has never been in a plane before. He just saw and heard them flying over the city. They looked scary and sounded scary. He doesn’t want to be in one.

“I told you we’re going far away,” his mother sighs and runs a hand through his curls. “But you don’t need to be scared. You can do this, alright? I’m with you. You can be brave like the monkey in your favourite tv show, can you?”

Leo swallows. He’s not that good at being brave. She knows that. His father always said so too. He called Leo little mouse sometimes. But it wasn’t like his mother calling him little monkey. It sounded mean. His father always told him to get himself together and stop being so jumpy. “I’m going to try,” he says quietly.

* * *

The plane is scary. Especially, when it starts to make strange loud noises and move. Leo clings to his mother and whimpers. Even the earplugs don’t help. Everything is loud and horrible. There are too many people too. One woman behind them even tries to touch Leo, reaching over her seat to pat his shoulder and tell him everything’s going to be alright. But his mother tells her to not do it, because Leo can’t stand being touched by someone who isn’t his mother. And even her touch gets too much on some days. On some days, he just wants to hide under his blanket and wants the world gone. He wishes today could be such a day. But instead, he tries to not start to cry and scream, when the plane starts to fly up, up, up, and his stomach feels funny.

Leo tries something, that works sometime, when everything is getting too much. He imagines, he’s a monkey in the jungle, experiencing adventures involving other jungle animals. He spends the whole flight with his face pressed against his mother’s chest, trying to disappear into his fantasies. It works quite well and the flight goes over faster than he had expected, but when they’re finally out, he feels dead exhausted again.

“We’re almost there. I’m so proud of you, little monkey,” his mother tells him and leads him to a waiting car. A cab. Leo falls asleep in it and when he wakes up, his mother says, “Now we’re there.”

They stand in front of a little house with a garden, surrounded by their suitcases. Leo’s mother knocks at the door, while Leo reaches out to get hold of his mother’s coat. He feels anxious again. He doesn’t understand why his mother would knock at the door of strange people.

But in the end, Leo actually knows the woman opening the door. It’s Melinda May. She’s his godmother. He hasn’t seen her for a long while. He looks up at her surprised, still clinging to his mother’s coat with one hand. May smiles warmly. She hugs Leo’s mother firmly. “Finally. You made it.”

“Yes … Thank you, May. I … I really don’t know how I’m supposed to …”

“Hey. You don’t need to worry, Martha. We’re best friends,” May says sternly.

Leo’s mother sighs and nods.

May now focuses on Leo, smiling at him. “Look at you, you’ve grown again,” she says.

Leo tries to return her smile despite his exhaustion, because he knows it’s considered as rude to not return a smile.

“You must be so tired,” May says to them, opening the door wider for them. “Come in. I’ll show you your rooms.”

* * *

Leo looks around in the room May showed him.

The walls are green. He likes green. It reminds him of the jungle’s colours. The bed is not too soft. He likes the feeling when he sits on it. “How long are we going to stay?” He asks his mother, who pulls some clothes for sleeping out of his suitcase.

His mother looks at him and a shadow flicks over her eyes. “For … a while,” she says. “Until we find something for our own.”

Leo frowns, but doesn’t say anything else. His mother gives him his plush monkey, his pillow and blanket. With all these things, the bed almost smells like home. Leo lies down and his mother gives him a kiss, leaving quickly today.

Leo falls asleep faster than he would have thought, his exhaustion making it impossible for him to keep his eyes open any moment longer.

* * *

May watches Martha Fitz, who is drying her tears with a few tissues from a box. She feels a deep sadness inside her. Because she can imagine what her friend and her son went through. She knows Martha for a long time now. May met her, when she was an exchange student in Scotland. She stayed with Martha’s family, which was lovely. The two girls quickly became friends and that relationship held despite the distance between their homes. It was an honour for May, when Martha asked her to be the godmother of her son Leopold James. But May didn't get along with Alistair Fitz from the beginning. She always had a bad feeling about him. When May eventually received Martha’s call for help, she acted immediately, telling Martha to leave Alistair Fitz and come to her to the US. Martha was hesitant at first. But May is glad she’s here now.

“I’d never thought it would get _that_ bad,” Martha says quietly, sniffing. “I though … I was naïve, Mel. I thought he would stop. But he didn’t.”

May nods, laying a hand on Martha’s shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself. It’s all on him. He has a wonderful family he should have taken care for and that didn’t stop him from choosing the alcohol.”

“And you told me! You warned me about Alistair back then. Why didn’t I listen to you?” Martha asks, shaking her head in disbelief.

May sighs. “We couldn’t have known back then. It was just a feeling I had. You were in love. But things change.”

“Oh yes, how quickly they changed,” Martha says bitterly. “He got so selfish and aggressive. And when he lost his job … he drowned his self-pity in Scotch and let us suffer for everything that didn’t go right in his life … I can’t believe I just left,” she adds, swallowing. “I’m still feeling … I don’t know. It’s like something is trying to pull me back.”

“I’m very glad you did leave, Martha. It was brave. You should never ever return. He won’t change. And how he treats Leo won’t change either.”

Martha flinches. “Oh God. Leo … He wanted to leave a note for his Dad. He still tries to make this man proud. He made him a card for his birthday. Alistair didn’t even notice. The card was destroyed, when Alistair tripped a bottle.” Martha shakes her head, starting to cry again. “You know Leo is … He is special. He has always been. He’s smart and emphatic and kind. But Alistair just sees the so called “problems”. He always complained … About Leo not being able to adjust to changes, about him choosing to eat almost the same things, about his habit to flap his hands when he’s excited … or about his obsession with monkeys. Everything was a reason for Alistair to mock him. And when he was drunk … He started to insult me and Leo. I … When he said one time, a … a belt might help, I got really scared, you know? I thought it might be just a matter of time that he would start hurting Leo,” Martha says, shuddering.

May lays her hand on hers and squeezes softly. “You did the right thing. Leo deserves to grow up without being mocked and insulted. He should be treated with kindness and love. You’ll teach him how to be a good man. Without Alistair. Alistair doesn’t deserve you two.”

“Thank you, May,” Martha says quietly, lowering her head. “I’m trying to see the future. Right now, it’s hard.”

“You just need a few days of rest. Try to relax and let Leo adjust to the new situation. You don’t need to hurry to find a job here or a place. You can stay as long as you want,” May tells her warmly.

“Thank you,” Martha repeats.

* * *

In the end, Leo and his mother stay.

May was lonely before they came. Now, it’s like they are a family. Leo grows up and eventually doesn’t want to be called Leo anymore. He becomes Fitz. Fitz, who skips two classes because he’s so smart. Fitz, who decides he wants to be an engineer because he’s amazing with building things with his hands. Fitz, who is kind and emotional, who is allowed to be who he is, without being told to stop flapping his hands, or being obsessed with monkeys or only eating food that isn’t mushy.

There is mocking sometimes, in school, but May and Martha always find a way to explain to Leo where that comes from and how he can deal with it.

They even adopt a dog at some point. And it really feels, like they are a family.

* * *

“Are you ready?” May asks, adjusting Fitz’s tie.

“I hope so,” he says, swallowing hard. He’s fumbling with his suit anxiously, not quite used to the clothes.

“Hey,” May says, smiling at him. “It’s going to be amazing. You should be very proud of yourself, finishing school with such marks.”

Fitz hums. “I still could have done better in English and …”

“Hush. You’re amazing and we are very proud of you,” Martha chimes in, smiling at Fitz.

Fitz blushes slightly. “Thanks mum.”

He breathes in deeply, and then, when his name is finally called, he goes to the stage, receiving his certificate. He’s the youngest up there. And when he looks around, searching for May and Martha, they wave, both beaming at him, proud and happy.


End file.
